Benchwarmers
by Unknown Personality
Summary: They were both the heirs of their own prestigious clans. They were both failures in their father's eyes. One will never know if he is good enough, one can. Will they help each other?


**_Disclaimer:_**_ NARUTO belongs to Masashi Kishimoto._

[**Benchwarmers**]  
[_Unknown Personality_]

He was bored. Sakura had asked him to meet her here because she had to tell him something _very_ urgently and now she was late. How annoying. He sighed and leaned back, cushioning his head on the back of the bench. Suddenly he heard quiet footsteps walking hesitantly toward him. He turned his head and opened his eyes to see one Hinata Hyuuga standing there. She gasped.

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke!" she apologized. "I didn't mean to wake you up." she bowed and apologised profusely.  
"Hn." He grunted, turning his face to the sky again in a dismissive manner.  
"May I sit down?" she asked timidly.  
"Hn." He grunted. He felt her clothes crease as she sat but didn't open her eyes.

He could sense her edginess. Why was she so edgy anyway? It was grating on his nerves.  
"What are you so afraid of?" He bit out suddenly.  
"Huh?" she seemed genuinely confused.  
"What do you mean Sasuke?" she asked, suddenly resorting to her usual nervous habit of pushing her index fingers together. His eyebrow twitched.

Trying to drown out the sound of that, however slight, he answered.  
"You always walk around like a scared little rabbit, trying to keep out of everybody's way. Why do you do that? You're the Hyuuga heiress aren't you? Shouldn't you have more pride in your status?" he asked.

He heard her intake of breath. Then her soft reply:  
"I'm not worthy of being the heiress." She began. "I have no remarkable skills to speak off and although the _Byakugan_ is my _kekkai genkai_, I am not as good at using it as Neji is. My shinobi skills are below average and I can barely defend myself despite my intensive training." She concluded quietly.

Her opened his eyes and stared at her.  
"So?" he asked. Surprised, she looked up and her gaze caught his. She flushed. He ignored that. "Train every day. Keep at it. Work out a schedule. Ask Kurenai for help. There's so many ways you could do that. You even have your Father to go to." He stopped, remembering his own father. "Does your father help you?" he asked quietly.

"What?" she stared at him. "He's too busy and I couldn't bother him with my-" She stopped as Sasuke lifted his head and glared at her, eyes practically burning a hole in her. "Sasuke?" she asked fearfully. He continued to stare at her, conflicted emotions swirling within him. At least her father was still alive. But then again, he was treating her no different that Sasuke had been treated by his father.

"Work at it." He said finally. She stared at him. Suddenly he realised that somewhere along the line he had turned to face her and clamped his hands on her shoulder. He let go. "I mean it. Keep training and one day, you'll get his approval. I have to go now. Bye." He got up rather hurriedly and strode off determinedly down the path, hands in his pockets.

Who would have known that he had so much in common with a Hyuuga, much less the heiress? For some reason this thought both dismayed and pleased him. He shook his head, trying to get his thoughts in order. First and foremost, the Hyuuga family had a history of enmity towards the Uchiha family. He definitely considered Neji a rival which was surprising since he was a branch member. He could deal with hating Neji.

But Hinata was the total opposite of Neji. She was unsure of herself. Her ninja skills were nothing to boast of and what little character she had seemed to deteriorate around the loser. He scoffed. That was weakness right there. No wonder her father paid her no heed. She was near useless! But then again, even his father put him down. Did that mean he had thought he was useless too?

Sasuke stopped and grasped his heart, anguish creeping through his veins. Had he been as useless as that in his father's eyes? Had he? He felt like screaming at the realisation. And now he would never know, all thanks to Itachi.

Suddenly he stopped and collected himself. Resolve hardened, he made tracks towards the training ground. He was going to train until his body gave out or his chakra depleted. Whichever came first.

* * *

Hinata stared at Sasuke's retreating back in confusion. She had no idea of what had been going through Sasuke's thoughts. He hadn't exactly voiced them although she had seen the conflict painted on his face. Sakura's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Sasuke? Sasuke? Where are you?" Hinata turned to face her.  
"Are you looking for Sasuke, Sakura?" she asked politely. "He went that way but he looked very troubled. I think he wants to be alone." Sakura stared at her.  
"Do you like Sasuke too?" she asked out of the blue.  
"What?" Hinata looked surprised. "I've never really thought about it but he does seem like a pretty nice-" she stopped when she noticed Sakura going purple. Panicking, she bowed hurriedly in Sakura's direction and ran.

* * *

She kept running and running until she ran out of breath. She looked up and found herself at Ichiraku. She paused. Should she go inside? What if Naruto was there? She had no idea how she would deal with him considering that Sasuke had pretty much freaked her out and sent her emotions haywire. Finally she decided that she would got take a walk, calm down and then go to Ichiraku so that if Naruto was there, hopefully she won't faint as quickly as she had the last time.

She went for a five minute walk and reached the bridge. She stood on it and looked over it into the water. The weather was cool and the water was so still. She gazed at it. It was so unlike her. The water was tranquil whereas her emotions were in shambles. The water was so useful, being home to so many fish and plants whereas she was just plain useless. She sighed. It wasn't really helping.

Finally she turned and walked back to Ichiraku deciding to risk it. She arrived and taking a deep breath, lifted the flap.  
"Hello." She said and she entered and looked up straight at Sasuke. She froze. "Sasuke?" she asked. He stared at her for a moment, rather blankly before turning back to his meal. The old man who ran the shop seemed to have disappeared.  
"Sit." Sasuke commanded.  
"Huh?" she stared at him, feeling a sense of déjà vu. She sat quaintly and drew her feet under the counter and placed her hands in her lap.  
"You were hoping to catch Naruto weren't you?" he asked, staring straight ahead. He picked up a strand of noodles and put it in his mouth. She looked down and blushed. "He said he was dead tired. He's probably asleep somewhere." She looked up alarmed.  
"Somewhere?" he just put another noodle into his mouth.  
"Yes." She looked like she was about to dash out and make sure Naruto was alright before she realised that that was sort of Sasuke's way of joking.

Crickets chirped.  
"Sorry." Hinata looked at him startled.  
"What?" she asked.  
"For before." He said, still not looking at her.  
"Oh, it's okay. You needn't-" she paused sensing an oncoming glare and subsided. "Do you want to become better?" He asked.  
"Yes." She answered.  
There was another long pause.  
"Does your father train you personally?" he asked.  
"Yes." She said.  
"I see." He said. "And it hasn't helped you at all?" he asked.  
"A bit, but Father wants me to excel at it and I'm a big disappointment to him in that area." She said, bowing her head.  
"Ah." He answered. "Do you want to train together?"  
She looked up surprised.  
"Sure." She answered without thinking.  
He got up and placed some money on the table.  
"Meet me at the training grounds at 5 in the morning if you're serious and tell the old man to keep the change." He said before walking out, Uchiha fan disappearing in the darkness of the night.

* * *

"Oh!" she interjected and stopped outside the door of the chuunin exam hall. He looked up from where he was walking towards the door. He walked right up to the door and placed his fingers on it.  
"Are you coming in or what?" he asked and pushed the door open, without waiting for her answer. He walked in. She scurried in after him.  
"But Sasuke-"  
"Quiet." he ordered. "We're not cancelling training, merely changing the location." He continued walking.

It had been a while since they had started training together. Every day, they had trained at the training grounds before their Squad practices and after. She had just decided to visit the battle ground and he seemed to have had the same thing in mind. She followed him. She wondered why he had not turned on the lights but she didn't dare question him. Suddenly he told her to stop and so she did. She heard him walk a little ways before stopping. Then the sparring began.

Punches were deflected, punches were thrown. Chakra strings flashed through the air and left a thin trail of red. Bursts of fire came at her and she evaded. She attacked, only to be thrown back but she kept trying and soon, she was matching him, blocking his attacks and attacking his defenses.

Soon, they were huffing and puffing, lungs starving for oxygen. She collapsed into a sloppy sitting position on the floor and heard him do the same. A few minutes passed and they cooled down. He gave her more pointers and she made mental notes. He let a few minutes pass and then got up. Hinata lifted herself up daintily and stopped when bumped into him.  
"Sorry," she apologised, "I didn't see you there."  
"You're supposed to anticipate that Hinata," he reprimanded. "Don't ever let your guard down."  
"Okay," Hinata said, "I'll be more alert next time."  
"Don't you get it?" He seemed frustrated, "Sometimes there is no next time. You'd be dead if your enemy caught you off guard."  
"O-oh," she stuttered. He was making her nervous. "I understand Sasuke."  
"Good." He still seemed frustrated about something. He paused as if he was going to say more before thinking better of it. He turned and strode towards the entrance. Hinata watched him go.  
"Wait!" she called suddenly.  
He stopped and inclined his head slightly to show that he was listening. He seemed irritated but she now knew that that was just a façade to protect himself. He acted disagreeable so as to push people away. He felt that it was safer to keep his friends at arm's length. It was a wise thing for a ninja to do but lonely.  
"Meet me at the bridge!" she called back. She didn't even know why she was asking him to meet her at the bridge. They had maintained a purely formal relationship so far but she did have a heart and it ached every time she show him sitting off somewhere, away from people by himself. She had been wanting to do something friendly, even if it meant jeopardising the formality.  
"Why?" he asked.  
"You'll see."  
"When?" he asked, surprising her. She'd thought that he would make a fuss.  
"Uh, tomorrow morning just before dawn." She answered. It seemed like a good idea to have this meeting before people woke up and saw Sasuke and her together.  
"Hm." He walked away.

She rubbed her hands down her arms. It was pretty cold. She sneezed and it froze as soon as it was out of her mouth. She stared at it surprised. Her gaze followed it as it fell to the ground and crashed. How strange.

Suddenly her back warmed. She spun around and found Sasuke staring at her disinterestedly.  
"Good morning Sasuke!" she said cheerfully.  
"So?" he asked.  
"So?" she looked at him puzzled a bit put off his ignorance of her greeting.  
"What did you call me here for?"  
"Oh, right." She held out her hand. "Come with me."  
He stared down at her hand in disgust and then at her face.  
"Oh right." She dropped her hand. "Then follow me."  
She turned and began sprinting. She sensed him following her. He seemed to be sprinting lethargically as if he was going slow for her sake. She cast a glance behind and nearly flew into a tree because of that. She shut her eyes and awaited her doom but when she opened her eyes, she found herself whistling through the tree at an even faster pace. She looked up. Sasuke was carrying her.  
"Ninja do not need to take their eyes off their course. If they do, they do it will still being aware of their surroundings."  
"Yes, Sasuke."  
She was admonished.  
"By the way, where to?"  
"The Fourth Hokage's head."

* * *

He put her down gently. She took the basket from under her arm and laid it down. Then she began pulling things out of it and soon a modest breakfast appeared. They sat down quietly and ate, watching the sun as it rose. After it rose, Hinata cleaned everything up and packed it up. She bid him farewell and left. He stood looking after her before he turned to look at the sun from under the shade of his hands. Then he leaped off the head and onto pieces of jutting rock until he reached the ground. Dusting himself off, he shoved his hands in his pockets. He turned to look up at the spot where he had just eaten breakfast. A small smile graced his lips for a spilt second before disappearing. He turned and walked slowly into the village.

* * *

They've been doing that ever since and Hinata's abilities have improved greatly. No longer would they be **benchwarmers**, sitting at the sidelines while Neji and Itachi out did them in the limelight. It was their time to shine and shine they will.

**-The End-**

**(dedicated to Kitty and Ran-chan. Hope you liked it!**** Sorry for it being so, so late! T.T)**


End file.
